Description of two new Kanchuria Julka, 1988 (Clitellata: Megascolecidae) species of earthworms from Tripura State, North-eastern India

Eastern Himalaya-Northeastern Hills are the second most earthworm species-rich region in India. Kanchuria Julka, 1988, is a small genus endemic to the north-eastern region of India, with eight known species. Two new species of the genus, namely Kanchuria tripuraensis Narayanan, Paliwal & Julka, sp. nov., and K. priyasankari Narayanan, Paliwal & Julka, sp. nov., are described from materials collected from the Tripura State in North-eastern India.

K. tripuraensis sp. nov. is a unique species of the genus, distinguishable from all other known species by having single ventromedian spermathecae in segments 7 and 8. K. priyasankari sp. nov. belongs to the turaensis -species group characterized by three pairs of spermathecal pores. This group has a total of 5 species, including the new species described herein.

Among the congeners of the group, K. priyasankari sp. nov. shows close similarity with K. turaensis Julka, 1988. K. priyasankari sp. nov. can be easily differentiated from the K. turaensis by the small body dimensions and characteristics of the spermathecae. The present work provides detailed descriptions of the new species along with photographs and illustrations of the key characters.

A key to species of the genus Kanchuria is also provided. With the discovery of two new taxa, the total number of Kanchuria species has gone up to 10, and megadrile worm diversity reported from the Tripura State has increased to 38.